Kosovo receives first deported migrant from US under agreement with Trump administration

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo said on Friday that the first of several dozen third-country migrants has arrived from the United States under an agreement reached earlier this year with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

Kosovo agreed in June to temporarily host up to 50 migrants who are slated for deportation from the U.S. under new, harsher U.S. immigration rules, and with an aim of facilitating their safe return to their home country,

“One individual has arrived in the Republic of Kosovo and has been granted temporary protection, in accordance with the applicable legislation,” Kosovo’s Interior Ministry told The Associated Press in an email.

The ministry added that “responsible institutions … have undertaken all necessary measures to ensure that the individual in question fully enjoys the rights and obligations” they are entitled to.

The statement did not specify the migrant’s nationality nor the arrival date. Authorities, the ministry said, are “continuously monitoring” the integration process and access to all available services during the stay in Kosovo.

It was not immediately clear when other migrants could arrive or where they would be staying in Kosovo.

Kosovo’s government in June praised the United States as a “steadfast ally” and hailed the two countries’ decades-long partnership and “shared values.”

A U.S.-led 78-day NATO air campaign ended the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo and ended Serbia’s rule in its former province. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, which Belgrade still does not recognize and has been a source of tension in the Balkans since the 1990s.